Variations on Death - 7. Have You Forgotten?

Only because I sought her advice, the Dear Lady sent a message, but like all her emanations, it could not be perceived in fullness until I transmuted. When immersed in a cloud of smoke, I conceived and wrote the following:

Even when immersed in the darkness, in the ebb of life, when all hope seems lost--do you know? or have you forgotten again?--Mortal, even then. . . thou art cradled in the arms of the goddess. The light surrounds you, and no harm can come to you. Thou art joined to the light and become that light that spans alpha and omega, so there is no beginning and no end. When one story ends another begins and so on forever and ever.

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One morning, as I was driving to a job with many challenges, no friends and many dangers, I worked upon composing my personal creed, something to believe in, something to give me courage. I arrived at the following, derived from the above: "I am sworn to the light. I am joined to the light. So there is no end to me and no beginning. Life and death are not serious alternatives. There were others before me and will be others after me. Though this single instance that I represent diminishes, the light does not. There is light in the darkness and it renews all things. So there is no end and no beginning."

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Reflections upon death serve as a useful device for restoring plain, wholesome common sense. The worst that can happen, after all, is death. If one accepts and fully embraces the possibility of dying, to the extent that is possible, then what more is there to fear? Of course, to be fearless, yet not foolhardy, is good, because courage allows one to seize opportunities and do what is necessary in the moment. Courage is the stuff of heroes. Should one be afraid of standing up in front of an audience of ten thousand and giving a speech? Oh, look out into the sea of eyes and imagine them a mere hundred years from now: empty eye sockets, skulls, skeletons, because they all die. They have already died, indeed. We are in the past, but do not know it. Our lives have already played out, but our consciousness remains in what we perceive to be the Now. It is all a dream. One might as well weave a good story rather than a bad one. Who wants to watch a bad show, let alone perform in one? Do your best. Be splendid.

The thought of being afraid becomes amusing joined with the absolute certainty of death, which most of us try to forget, a natural human tendency. I find death useful as a reminder and a guide in life. I like to go for walks in cemeteries and read the names and dates and mottoes on tombstones and imagine the people that were here before me. I like to carry death around with me, my faithful companion, a little shadow imp perched upon my shoulder, scythe in hand, as a reminder of what matters, to help in distinguishing what does not matter. What does not matter is so much of the nonsense in ordinary life that spins our wheels. We are temporary, here for just a moment, and then we are gone, and it is as if we never were. I am not really sure what can be considered important in the cosmic sense. Perhaps principles are important. Decisions are important. At least to us they are important, to our society, and perhaps they are also important to those who watch and listen. All that matters is to serve what is good in this world, because we are pawns in the chess game between darkness and light.